


Infinity // 1D AU

by captainsunlinson



Series: Made In The A.M. [2]
Category: Larry Stylinson - Fandom, One Direction (Band), Ziam Mayne - Fandom
Genre: Baby, Coffee, England - Freeform, F/M, Family, Kidnapping, Love, M/M, Marriage, Wedding, friends - Freeform, icedcoffee, larrystylinson, oldfriends, ziammayne
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-12
Updated: 2019-01-12
Packaged: 2019-10-08 15:45:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 24
Words: 19,662
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17389190
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/captainsunlinson/pseuds/captainsunlinson
Summary: (Book 2)Zayn's getting married, Niall's gone missing, Harry's trying to find him, Louis' having a daughter, Liam's heartbroken, and Ed Sheeran is dying?





	1. Chapter 1

~Down to earth,

Keep on falling when I know it hurts~

 

 

Zayn sat in a booth with a variety of drinks around him - waiting for the others. A hot chocolate with whipped cream and sprinkles for Harry. A Grasshopper Mocha for Louis. Snickerdoodle Latte for Liam. Niall's customary Iced Coffee. And his own drink - a vanilla latte.

Harry and Louis were the first to arrive. Harry gave Zayn a big hug - congratulating him. Louis was a bit more skeptic, and went in for a slower but more meaningful hug. They had seen each other just a month earlier for Harry's birthday bash, but it was more than that.

Louis just didn't understand how you could marry someone that you've known for less than six months. It was probably less than three months, if Louis cared to do the math. Which he didn't. "Thanks for the drinks!" Harry said excitedly.

"Of course." Zayn said, adjusting his glasses.

"What's his name again?" Louis asked, flicking his eyes up to meet Zayn's.

"Luke. Guy I met on the plane to New York to return the money to Simon." Louis made a noise with a hard to decipher intent.

"Hey, hey, hey." Liam said, swooping in. "Congrats, Zayn!" He grabbed the smaller boy into a bear hug, and Louis searching his face for any sign of the remnants of a conversation that they had had a week or so prior. It wasn't so much of a conversation really. Louis had picked up the phone just moments after Zayn had called him to see that Liam was calling, and Liam cried for forty-five minutes, while trying to convince himself that he was overreacting.

Louis had been the source of many of Liam's late night calls - which were early morning for Louis in the UK - in which he tried to decipher the feelings he felt for Zayn. But that was all out the window now - Zayn was getting married in less than a month.

And he hadn't even told his family yet.

That's what he had called them there for. He needed his best friends with him as support as he told his family that he was getting married on March 30th to a guy. Named Luke. The most important bit being that he was a man. Yeah. Zayn's family didn't know that he liked guys, and he wasn't sure that they were going to be the most accepting of that fact. Or that the wedding was going to be in London.

Louis had been the one to dislike the relationship from the start - it was too soon, and something about the mysteriousness of the guy bothered him. Harry was all for the relationship on the other hand, picking out flower schemes with Zayn over the phone. And Liam just cried. That was his only emotion - sadness. But from knowing Zayn as long as he had - which is not that long, but longer than Luke, surely - he knew that no matter what everyone said, he was going to marry this kid.

Liam sat on the inside of the booth, drinking his latte and smiling. But it didn't meet his eyes. "How's it going?" Harry asked him.

"Really good." Liam said. "I'm trying to be smart with the money. Going back to school in the fall. Bought a nice apartment in the city, and I got a dog. Here, look at this picture!"

Zayn didn't participate in the small talk. He was waiting for Niall - the iced coffee for him in his other hand. When he had called Niall, he asked to be his best man. And while Niall was a big Ziam shipper, he was elated to be a part of Zayn's special day, and he jumped on the Zuke/Layn ship.

"Does Luke have a last name?" Louis asked Zayn suddenly.

Zayn shook his head. "He just goes by Luke, really. Or Hot Luke." 

Louis got ready to spill some life-altering advice, but Liam starting asking questions to everyone rapidly - the lightning round. "How's Gemma?"

"Doing well." Harry replied.

"Eleanor?"

"On bed rest." Louis said.

"What've you been up to lately, Harry?"

"I'm going to open up a bakery in Holmes Chapel. Where my mum lives." Harry said. "Louis was thinking of moving there with me, since it's such a nice and quaint place, and only about two hours from Doncaster."

"Louis?" He asked.

"I'm actually trying my hand at screenwriting. I never went to theatre school, but I've had some ideas bouncing around in my head for years. Stories that others need to hear - see!" Louis got on ranting about his stories then, Harry watching him with dreamy eyes, and Zayn craned his head around the shop.

He looked for weird hair colors. He listened for the tell-tale laugh. He watched the door. Looked out the windows.

But, even as the hours passed, Niall Horan did not show up.


	2. Chapter 2

~Going faster than a million miles an hour,

Trying to catch my breath some way, somehow~

 

 

As they walked out of the coffee shop towards Zayn's rental car, Zayn complained. "That bastard. He was supposed to be here."

"Well, he won't miss dinner. He's Niall." Harry said this, and for once, everyone laughed at his little jest.

"Where are we headed?" Liam asked, sliding in the backseat.

"We're going to a Mexican restaurant." Zayn said. "My parents, my sisters, and Luke will be there."

Liam finally lost his cool and calm demeanor for a second, sighing deeply and putting his head in his hands. Since he was sitting behind Zayn, he could not see this. And neither could Harry, who was in the passenger seat and trying to find a good song. Louis patted Liam's back as a show of solidarity. "Let's make up a safe word. If it gets too much, I'll find an excuse and pull you out of there."

"I learned this my first time around in school - NORA. It's used in malls a lot, and it stands for Need Officer Right Away."

"Fine." Louis said, repeating it in his head. Nora.

"What are you gonna name her? The baby." Liam asked then.

"Don't know yet. We're thinking that we might just see what she looks like when she pops out."

"Solid plan." Liam said, trying to force a smile back onto his face. Louis realized that that was his way of coping with the situation around him. Small talk. Next thing he was going to asking about - "What's up with this weather?"

"Classic Virginia. Just the way it is. Also it's spring." Zayn seemed a bit down, or simply thinking, up there in the front seat. Harry was dancing to himself up there, and a minute later, they were there at the restaurant. Zayn saw his parents standing out front with his sisters, and he quickly parked and went to meet them.

The others took a second getting out of the car - Zayn hadn't seen his family since he left for MIT, so many years ago. Liam was hesitant to meet them as well, Louis didn't want to meet Luke, and Harry was just about to rip them out of the car, kicking and screaming the whole way.

After lots of hugging, they got out of the car, and Zayn seemed ready to burst with his exciting news. Louis was ready to sit in the corner with a pitcher of tea, sunglasses on, and watch the world burn. Liam was ready to cry. Harry was just hungry.

"Hi. I'm Harry. This is Louis, and Liam. We're friends of Zayn's." The group didn't look as homeless as they did four months ago, and Zayn's parents shook their hands, and the sisters smiled at them, which was enough. They sat down, and then Luke walked in.

"Hi, babe!" He shouted across the crowded dinner hall. Zayn stood, and Louis facepalmed. Off to a great start.

"This is my boyfriend. Fiancé, actually." Zayn sat back down, and Luke sat next to him.

The rest of them finally got a look at this so called Hot Luke.

"NORA!" Louis shouted panickedly, standing abruptly as the table emerged in worried talks. He ran to the bathroom, his boyfriend a few steps behind him. Liam followed as well, so that he wasn't alone.

In the last bathroom stall, Louis sat on the toilet, feet curled up to his chest. Harry stood next to him, and Liam stood in the corner. "That's Luke. Like Luke, Luke."

"What does that mean?" Harry asked.

"Luke." Louis said, obviously in a tizzy. Harry wasn't connecting the dots quick enough for Louis, so he jumped in again. "Luke, like locked me in a closet Luke." Harry made a surprised noise.

"Wait, what?"

Harry went to explain it this time. "On Louis' first job with Simon, none of the others liked him. They physically locked him in a closet on the day of the heist so that he couldn't participate, but he broke out and saved them because they needed him, truly. Why are you so upset, Boo Bear?"

Louis took a deep breath, convincing himself that he was, in fact, overreacting. "Zayn is marrying my ex-bully. Luke. That means Perrie and Palmer will show up soon. Does Zayn know? That Luke was involved with Simon? We have to tell him."

"He has bigger worries right now." Liam said, flicking his eyes towards the door, and the other two became aware to the loud discussion in the dining room.

"After. We tell him after then." Louis said.

"We need to be supporting him out there. He's one man against a firing squad." Harry ran out of the stall, and back to the table. Liam and Louis followed a second later.

As Louis sat, Luke addressed him over the discussion between Zayn and his family. "Louis."

"Luke."

"You two know each other?" Zayn said abruptly, and Louis nodded, looking down at the menu.

Luke laughed, running his hand through his longer black hair. "Me and Louis go way back. I remember when he was still in the closet." Another short laugh.

"Hi. I'm Harry. Louis' boyfriend." Harry reached across the table, shaking Luke's hand with a death grip and a very very harsh glare. "What's good to eat here, Zayn?"

Zayn didn't sense the tension - oh, oblivious Zayn. "Niall's still not here?"

The others shook their heads. "I'll call him?" Liam offered.

"He would've called if he wasn't coming." Zayn looked down at his Coke. The waitress came by then, asking for orders. Everyone ordered, and then everyone at the table was in on the discussion.

"You can't marry someone you just met, Zayn!" His mother yelled.

"I love him, so yes I will. You can't stop me. It's your choice whether or not to be a part of my life. I want you to be, but that's your choice. Please, can we talk about anything else?"

"Why did MIT kick you out?" His dad asked. Louis put a hand over his mouth to stop a cackle.

"I participated in inappropriate behavior fitting a student." Zayn said simply, giving his menu up. 

"More chips and salsa?" The waitress asked the later end of the table, where Liam, Louis, Harry, and Luke sat.

"Keep 'em coming." Liam said, nervously.

"You can't possibly still be mad at me." Luke said to Louis.

Louis pursed his lips over his iced tea, which had just arrived via another waitress. "I don't like bullies."

"I saw you did some modeling for Adidas. What else do you do now?"

"I just transitioned back to theatre work." He said, tastefully. "After walking away from Simon."

"He kept you? I thought he threw us all out."

"He only keeps the good ones." Louis said with a leveling glare.

"Lou, stop talking now." Harry said, and Louis was more than happy to do so, although he just wanted to knock Luke out. Liam just ate the chips and salsa, staring at the last empty chair at the table, wondering where, oh where, Niall had gone.


	3. Chapter 3

~Down to earth,

It's like I'm frozen, but the world still turns~

 

Two days later, Louis, Harry, and Liam sat in the airport, waiting on a flight back to Yorkshire. They hadn't got to talk to Zayn after the group had gotten kicked out of the restaurant, and no one had still heard from Niall.

Louis was stalking Luke on social media while they waited for their flight. Liam was flying back with them since the wedding was in a month, and he wouldn't miss it, even if it killed him inside. He was just gonna stay with Louis and Harry for the time being. (He secretly hoped that their lovey dovey attitude would kill him before March 30th.)

"Facebook. Okay. Works for All Star Security UK."

Harry looked that up. "Run by Paul Higgins. They do security for bands and celebrities and such. Sounds legit."

"He actually has pictures of him and Zayn. Ew." Liam said.

"What exactly is your situation with Zayn?" Harry asked him, narrowing his eyes slightly.

"I've talked to Louis about this quite a bit, and he's really opened me up to the idea that sexuality is fluid. You like who you like. And to put it in simpler terms, like a quote I found on Instagram - I walk the line of being 100% straight, and being 400% gay for Zayn."

"Relatable." Harry nodded. "I'm sorry that it took you this long to figure that out, bud, but Zayn's gone."

"I know." Liam said, burying his face in the blanket that he had wrapped around him.

"Hold up a hot second!" Louis exclaimed. "Now this is the real tea! Perrie and Palmer also both work at All Star Security. Palmer would follow Perrie until the end of the earth, but security? Perrie would never get involved in that. Something's going on."

"It's probably just a coincidence, Louis."

"Nothing is a coincidence anymore, Hazza." Louis said.

"Now boarding flight number...." They stood up, putting their stuff away and moving to get in line.

"And the fact that Niall didn't show up for coffee and dinner and hasn't called Zayn? That's not a coincidence either!"

"It is a bit weird." Liam added.

"Well, something is a bit off there, but don't dig any farther into Luke, okay Louis? Zayn loves him, and we have to support him."

"Zayn loves him, okay. But, I don't trust Luke. Argh, curse my heavily guarded heart." Louis said.

"Stop speaking in tongues." Harry snapped at him. "What's going on?"

Louis sighed. "Not ready to talk about it yet." That shut Harry up, as he hated to make Louis mad or angry.

They got on the plane, Liam getting the window seat, Louis the middle, and Harry the aisle. Louis started eating a package of skittles, refusing to share them with Harry, who loved fruity things.

"I'm really worried, actually. Where is Niall?" Liam asked this, and the other two didn't say anything. "Do you think they got him? That he's back in jail."

"No. I would've seen it on TV. Heard about it, maybe. Simon would've called, most likely. And Niall's careful."

"Yeah, but no one's that careful." Liam said, looking at his nails and contemplating whether or not to bite them down to the nub. He decided to drink water instead, and that worked until it was gone. "How could I be such an idiot?"

"Please don't start crying again." Louis said. "I'll find you some really hot guy/girl to go to the wedding with, and make him jealous, and he'll just marry you instead." Harry hit Louis in the stomach, and a Skittle flew out of his mouth, hitting the seat back in front of him and falling on the floor.

"We're happy for Zayn."

Louis rolled his eyes. Harry was happy for Zayn. Not Louis, and certainly not Liam.


	4. Chapter 4

~Stuck in motion, but the wheels keep spinning 'round,

Moving in reverse with no way out~

 

Z: I gave Luke your address, he's coming to pick you up.

L: What, why?

Z: Wants to talk...

Louis hurriedly got dressed, made a pot of tea, and almost tripped over Liam on his way out the door. This was of course, after he contemplated not going. Maybe Zayn had given him the wrong address?

But, Luke was sitting in a car in Louis' driveway. The passenger seat was free, but there were two people in the backseat. "Perrie. Palmer."

"Hello, Lewis." Perrie said in her New York accent.

"Long time no see." Palmer said, smiling uncomfortably. He adjusted in his seat uncomfortably.

"Leg still good?" Louis asked. Palmer nodded, tapping his prosthetic. "Good. Now what is this about, Luke?"

"Let's take a drive and you'll see."

\---

"Since Simon didn't want our skills anymore, we took them somewhere else." Perrie started. But, she left out the bit in which Simon wanted her but not the others. "All Star Security. In London."

"Paul's a little bit more I'll kill you if you don't get me my money compared to Simon, but all is well."

"Simon wouldn't hurt a fly. Makes him weak." Luke states.

Louis laughed. "He killed a partner of mine. Overslept a robbery, and I did it alone. Guy disappears off the face of the earth."

"He probably just did that to avoid Simon." Palmer laughed. "No way he's dead." Louis thought otherwise, but he let them carry on with the speech.

"So it's not a security firm?" He interjected quickly.

"No, no. It is. But it's not." Luke laughed, running his hand through his hair.

"What are you into then? Robbing old ladies and convenience stores?" Louis was on guard against the others, and he knew that he would most likely survive if he threw himself out of the moving car.

"I would never stoop so low. It's money laundering, Louis." Louis made a noise. "And I'm guessing you want in."

Louis laughed out loud. "You have never been so wrong in your life, Luke. I'm out. I'm not the same man who needed cash to save his dying mother. I've got cash. And I'm out. Done with crime. And what exactly do you want with Zayn? Is he part of a mission? Gonna money launder him?"

"Why? Has he got money? No. Idiot. I love him. We're really getting married."

"And he doesn't know that you worked for Simon?"

Luke sighed very loudly, and Perrie did as well, from the backseat. "Why would that matter to him?"

"Because he worked for Simon too?" Louis yelled. "How did you not know that?"

Luke pulled the car over abruptly and turned to Louis. "He's involved with Simon? Is he out? Has Simon contacted him for any more jobs?"

"You'd have to ask Zayn? But I think he's out, like the rest of us."

"What was your job? What happened?"

"I'm not telling you. You could incriminate me!" Louis unlocked the door and climbed out of the car. "And don't think I won't be telling Zayn about what I just learned."

"I hardly think he'll care." Luke laughed, getting out of the car.

Louis flipped him off. "I've known him longer than you, genius. I think I know him better than you. I lived with him for a month."

"Did you use your flirting techniques on him?" Luke asked. "Like you did with me?"

Louis froze in his spot. "Never." He turned then. "He was in love with someone else, did you know about that?"

"What? Liam? The straight boy who smashed his head into a shelf? I know about Liam. Zayn is over him."

Louis knew that he was about to do something he would regret later, so he picked up his phone and called Harry. "Please come pick me up. Side of the highway going North. Can't miss me." He hung up. "Why are you still arguing with me? I don't want in on your little money laundering scheme and nothing you say will make me approve of your marriage to Zayn."

Luke shook his head at Louis. "I knew I hated you for a reason. And I'm sorry. I was wrong about no one ever loving you, because obviously that tall glass of stupidity loves you or something. Or did you bribe him with money and penthouse apartments? And does he know about your baby mama?"

Louis took off his jacket then, leaving his phone and his cigarettes on the ground. "That's it. You can disrespect me all you want and I will take it, but you can't disrespect Harry and expect to walk away, you wet sock. Or Eleanor, who doesn't deserve any hate in this world, no matter who she is or what she's done."

"Wet sock. How original." Luke said. Perrie got out of the car, filming the prelude to the fight.

"Unnecessary movie sequel."

"Okay, first of all - how dare -" Louis cracked him across the face.

"Inconvenient fire drill."

"Tell me how you really feel, why don't ya?" Luke said, and Louis dodged his attempt to punch back.

"I'm going to call you a cold bowl of soup, and then I'm going to mess you up." Louis said. Fueled by anger, Louis started relentlessly attacking Luke, who was on defense mode, until he punched Louis in the stomach and sent him to the ground.

"Well you're an itchy sweater, if we're going for original insults." Luke said, waiting for Louis to get up.

"Cops on on the way." Palmer shouted. "Time to skedaddle."

"I'm not leaving until you say sorry." Louis said, tackling Luke and shoving his face into the ground.

"Louis Tomlinson!" Harry shouted, pulling up next to the fight.

"How'd you get here so fast?" Perrie asked him.

"I'm the getaway driver." He said, flipping her off. "Louis Tomlinson, let Luke go right now."

"He called you a tall glass of stupidity, babe. I'm defending your honor."

"Okay, Louis, but there's a fine line between defending someone's honor and murder." Harry wrenched Louis off of Luke, and then pushed him into the car. "Don't come round anymore." He said to Luke, before pulling out and speeding away.

"I called him an unnecessary movie sequel." Louis said, assessing his wounds.

"Awe, love you too babe."


	5. Chapter 5

~And now I'm one step closer to being,

Two steps far from you~

 

The next day, Liam and Louis were sitting on the couch and Louis was questioning everything. "What do we do? Do we tell Zayn?"

"I don't know if it'll matter all that much." Liam sighed.

"Maybe it'll matter enough. He'll think that he doesn't know Luke all that well, and reconsider marriage?" Louis got up to make himself a cup of tea.

Liam sighed. Again. "Maybe the least we can do is warn Zayn. He may think that we're lying if we outright tell him.

Louis grabbed his phone.

L: Do you know where Luke works?

Z: All Star Security in London.

L: Do you know what he does there?

Z: He's a security guard? That's a dumb question, Louis. What is this about?

L: I've heard fishy things about All Star...

Z: screw you

He showed Liam the conversation. "So that's how that went."

"We need evidence!" Liam exclaimed.

"Yeah. I mean money laundering is a big deal."

"So is bank robbery, Louis. I think this makes us hypocrites."

"Let's do it, anyways, Liam. Do something right with our lives for once. Help the people who have had money stolen from them, finally. We could uncover this ring, and stop Zayn from marrying Luke!"

"Why does that sound like the plot to a bad rom-com?"

"Harry loves rom-coms! Let's see if he'll help us." Louis yelled his boyfriend's name, and was surprised to see him already coming down the hallway, keys in hand.

"Whatever you're doing, I don't care. I'm going to help Zayn find Niall, bye." Harry gave this speech as he walked out the front door.

"Just us then. Okay." Liam smiled. "I don't feel good about this. I don't want to ruin Zayn's happiness again."

"We won't get Luke arrested or anything like that. We leave his information out of it all, and we just expose the company, and then Zayn will be like dude, wow. The heck is up with that."

"This is a very flawed plan." Liam started biting his nails then.

"No, it's gucci. Let's go." Louis started putting on his shoes, gathering his cigarettes, etc. Liam questioned where they were going. "To the store. We need milk."

\---

At the store, Liam bought himself a package of cookies that he wasn't planning on sharing. "Do you want to go no a run or something? Would that be more stress-releasing? You can use my gym membership."

"I want cookies." Liam said. "And my dog."

"But I have dogs at my house." Louis said. "They love you."

"Can we go to the Humane Society? I want to see the dogs."

"I'm worried about you." Louis grabbed the needed milk, and some more tea bags, and then they checked out, headed to the car.

"Is, is that a no then?" Liam re-asked as they left.

"There's not one close by. There's one in Holmes Chapel. We'll go when we're up there this weekend."

"Yes." Liam smiled, his mouth full of cookies. "I love dogs."

Louis coughed uncomfortably. "Yes. I know."


	6. Chapter 6

~And everybody wants you,

Everybody wants you~

 

 

Louis sat in front of his computer screen in his office at home, Liam on the couch behind him, finishing his cookies from earlier. "Pick up, damn it." Louis shook his computer, and then Simon's face popped up on the screen.

"Louis! How are you? Is that Liam back there?"

"Yes, sir."

"I heard that Zayn's getting married? That's cool. Ready to be a married man, Liam?" Liam choked on his cookie.

"Simon. No. Zayn's marrying Luke."

"Luke?" Simon looked disgusted. "Sorry, Liam. Didn't know." Liam was bent over the trash can in the corner of the room now, coughing up his left lung. "Wow. Luke. Wait, why did you call?"

"We need guidance. And yes, it involves Luke. He reached out to me, and tried to get me to join him at his new job. He works at All Star Security UK."

"I think I've heard of them. Why would he want you to join up, though?"

"They are into money laundering." Louis sighed, getting up to give Liam a water bottle.

"I'm fine. Just went down the wrong pipe." He kept hacking, sounding like Wheezy from Toy Story.

"Money laundering?" Simon switched screens and started pulling some stuff up. "Do you have evidence of this? I could make a fortune suing them if I get someone to give testimony."

"Not yet. We wanted to know what we should do next. We want to help shut them down, in some way." Louis eyed Liam, who was now chugging the water bottle. But he coughed unexpectedly, spilling the rest of the bottle on himself. "Luke told me that they're trying to get money from Tom Holland at the moment, their current client."

"Don't go after him. It's a lost cause. You need receipts of money transfers into off-shore accounts. You'll need Zayn to hack that kind of stuff."

"Zayn can't know about this." Liam said. "He's in love with Luke."

Simon sighed. "Then you need to find someone else. I can't help you beyond that. I've got to go Louis, but this was nice. Sorry for the confusion, Liam!"

Simon hung up then, and Liam screamed primally.

\---

"Hello, Louis." Eleanor said, as the front door opened. She was laying on the couch, eating crisps and watching the latest episode of Riverdale.

"Hey, El." He said. "How are you?"

"Same as always. Baby girl is kicking my bladder and spine constantly."

"A footie player. Got that from me. Sorry." Eleanor laughed, looking radiant.

Her eyebrows furrowed when he shut the door behind him, however. "No Harry?"

Louis shrugged. "He's busy."

"Get me some water." She handed him her stainless steel bottle, and he filled it up for her, bringing it back to her. "What's new with you?"

"Have to become a computer hacker overnight, but that's just the easy stuff."

"You need to hack something? Sounds mysterious and spy-like."

"Yeah, and my computer friend can't know about it, so I have to become a hacker, and I don't even know how to turn the brightness down on my laptop."

"Louis, that's easy."

"Everyone says that, but it's really not, Eleanor." She laughed, and Louis patted her belly.

"Wait. Wait. My friend told me about this guy." She laughed, sitting up. "This sounds like an urban legend, but there's this guy. He wears a beanie in a weird shade of green, and he hangs out in this bar in London in every night, and by day, he works at the Peace Corps headquarters. I don't know what he does there, but my friend said that she met him at the bar, and he bragged about being a hacker."

"This does seem like urban legend."

"Go anyways. So that you don't injure yourself trying to learn about computers."

"Okay. Thanks, El." Louis smiled, kissed her cheek, and left then, off to find this urban legend.


	7. Chapter 7

~How many nights does it take to count the stars?,

That's the time it would take to fix my heart~

 

"Hello, Simon." Zayn said to his phone, sitting on the floor of his hotel room. Luke was asleep on the bed, and Harry was in the chair, near Zayn.

"What do you want? I already talked to Louis and Liam today."

"What?" Zayn started pacing. "What did they want?"

Simon paused abruptly, thinking of a good lie. "Louis had a question about Niall."

"Well that's what we're asking about. Niall's missing, as far as we know."

"He didn't bring that up. He was asking about other things involving Niall, but okay. I can send a team of people to his house in Chicago. Give me a couple of hours, and then I'll report to you. Congrats to you and Luke." Simon hung up then.

"Nothing." He said to Harry, who heard the whole conversation anyways.

"And Louis is up to something. I know it." Harry narrowed his eyes. "I'll talk to him later."

Zayn kicked a suitcase. "What do we do now? Wait?"

"Nothing left to do."

\---

Simon called back two and a half hours later. "I'm going to patch you through to the guy who went and took a look at Niall's place."

The phone switched over. "Hello, Zayn. I'm Kyle. Me and my crew went into Niall's house. There's signs of a struggle, but we can't pull any prints off of anything. None of the neighbors saw anything. There were lamps knocked over and furniture moved, etc. But nothing to say if he was hurt or where they took him. Hope this helped. Patching you back to Simon."

"Did that help?"

"Not really. But now we know that he was kidnapped. So there's that."

"Good luck finding him."

"You aren't going to help him?"

"I'm a very busy man, Zayn. I don't have time to find people like Niall. I'm working on bigger projects. Bye."

Zayn slammed his phone into his leg, wanting to scream. "Okay, so he was kidnapped. Can we get footage of it?" Harry asked. "Do some computery thing."

"Yeah. Yeah."

"Hack into street camera footage." Luke said, laying on the bed and watching Breaking Bad. "Does he live on a busy street?"

"Simon sent me the address." Zayn said, getting onto his computer and typing it in. "Fairly busy." Zayn started doing his thing, hacking into cameras and such to get a good view.

Luke watched Harry watch him. "Do you want something to eat?"

"I'm good." Harry said, looking at his black eye, which he had told Zayn was from an unruly fan of someone he was protecting.

"Look. Look at this." Zayn said, just a few minutes later. A black SUV pulled up in front of Niall's house, and then ten minutes later, a girl with brown hair and an unidentifiable face dragged Niall out of the house and put him in the car. Then she drove off. Zayn tried to follow the car using other cameras, but eventually it was pointless.

"Did you get the license plate number?" Luke asked, being so casual it was irritating to Harry.

"I can run it through the system!" The pair worked together well, he had to admit it, and Harry was back to being happy for them.

This took longer to do, and Harry took to messaging Louis, asking him about his day.

H: how's your day goin' babe?

L: good, i think i might spend a couple of days in london w/ liam

H: leave tomorrow?

L: yeah, and be back friday afternoon. It'll be fun -little boys trip

H: is he okay

L: [image]

H: yikes

Harry then took to watching Breaking Bad with Luke, sitting on the end of the bed. "I got it. I got an address. It belongs to one Evelyn Rodes, and she lives in Galway. In Ireland."

"Fitting. The Irish one is in Ireland." Luke laughed at this.

"We have to go up there." Harry exclaimed. "Check it out."

"I'll book plane tickets. Babe, you wanna go?"

"Got work." He said, smiling.

"Why aren't you at work right now?" Harry asked.

"Day off."

"It's Tuesday." Harry replied.

"I'm not scheduled today, numbskull." Harry wanted to punch him really hard, but he refrained. He sighed instead. "We're going to Ireland, then."


	8. Chapter 8

~Oh, baby, I was there for you,

All I ever wanted was the truth, yeah, yeah~

"This is it, thanks!" Zayn yelled to the cabbie, and pushed Harry out of the car and onto the pavement.

"The ground is wet, idiot." Harry complained.

"Sorry, kid. This is it. Evelyn's house."

"Do you think that Niall will be here?" Harry asked, on guard.

Zayn shook his head. "I don't think so."

"We could be charged with breaking and entering." Harry sighed. "Not if we're careful. I need to put my bounty hunter cap on. Wow, it's been a while. I need to stretch."

"Oh that's right. You were a bounty hunter for a bit." Zayn walked up to the front door, knocking first. "No answer." He replied after waiting for three seconds. "Time to break the window."

"No, you idiot." He stopped Zayn. "Usually there's a spare key." Harry looked under the window panes, under rocks, and finally under the mat. No dice. "Wait. Wait." As a last ditch effort, he flipped the mat over, and it was taped to the underside of it. "Told you."

Harry got the door opened. "Don't touch anything." Zayn reminded him as the pair stepped inside.

"We should look in the trash. For checkbooks. Computers, etc." Zayn went looking for a laptop, and Harry started looking for other proof.

"First of all, why would someone named Evelyn want to kidnap Niall? Wait, wait, wait. What was the name of the guy that Niall broke out of prison?" Zayn looked it up on his phone quickly. "Connor Rodes. They're related." He showed the screen to Harry.

"But why would she want to kidnap Niall?"

"I don't know, but it's all related. Ah, my brain's freaking out. Keep looking." Another minute passed. "There's no laptop. No technology."

"Here. There's some emails under this stack of papers. Looks like it's between her and Niall. They were communicating." Harry started looking through the three pages that were there. "Mostly about her brother's case, and then Niall stopped replying abruptly."

"So she kidnapped him? Or did someone else?"

Harry moved on, looking through the trash cans. "Look for ticket stubs or even a camera."

"I did see a camera." Zayn said, coming back with one.

The pictures showed a house, Niall's, and her staking it out. All pictures with him in them showed him as panicky and paranoid. He knew that she was coming for him. Then, later, pictures of a building. Location unidentifiable. Through more pictures, it becomes a house.

"Found a key." Zayn announced, handing it to Harry.

"What does all of this mean?" Harry said. "We should have enough evidence here, but I can't connect it!" He pouted. "I'm not the smartest kid on the block. And I wasn't the head bounty hunter or anything. I was just muscle for Lou."

"Lou as in Louis?" Zayn asked, confused.

"Louise." Harry corrected him.

"Well, why not call Louise, then?"

\---

"Lou, no. No. No. That's not necessary." Harry said, trying to backtrack.

"I'll be there soon. Just be there to pick me up. Shannon Airport. Take the evidence you have and I'll take a look at it when me and Lux get there!"

"You're bringing the baby?" Harry asked.

"Yes, Harry. I need a vacation. I'm freshly divorced, and I need relaxation. Plus, Lux can see her favorite uncle." Lou hung up then, and Harry banged his head on the wall nearest him.

"She's coming here." He sighed. Running a hand through his hair, he turned to Zayn. "I cannot believe her nerve. Gather the evidence we have so far, and we'll go back to the hotel."

"We'll have a real professional with us if she comes, Harry. It'll be great. Niall'll be found in no time."

Harry smiled, trying to defuse the tension inside of him. Lou was an expert. This was good.

Maybe it was whatever Louis was up to then, that was bothering him? That sneaky weasel was definitely in deep, but in what?


	9. Chapter 9

~How many nights have you wished someone would stay?,

Lay awake only hoping they're okay~

 

"Shots, shots, shots!" Liam sang, pushing his way to the bar. Louis grabbed onto the hood of Liam's jacket so that he wouldn't lose him in the crowd.

"You can't drink too much, remember!" He yelled.

"I can't drink whatever I want! My kidney started working again!" Three seconds later, Liam was drinking a whole bunch of shots.

"I'm not paying for those! And we're here to look for this dude, remember! Look for the beanie." It wasn't that hard, considering it was almost ten at night, and that the man they were looking for was sat just a couple feet away from Liam at the bar.

"Hey!" Liam yelled, and basically everyone turned except the one they needed. "Guy wearing the beanie!"

The man turned around, and for the second time that month, someone's identity caught Louis by surprise. "No way." He said, walking over to his old friend. "Ed Sheeran."

"Louis Tomlinson." Ed said, standing to give Louis a hug. "Long time no see!" Liam drank his shots, watching the interaction. "Let's head outside so that we can talk!"

Louis turned to his partner. "Pay off your tab. We're going!"

A couple minutes later, the three of them were outside, leaning against the building. Louis lit a cigarette. "I have a million questions." He said. "Oh, and this is Liam. He worked on a job with me for Simon."

"How many people in this world know about Simon?" Liam asked himself, rubbing his jaw, and sitting on the pavement.

"I know you want to know what happened that day. Why I didn't show up for the job. I have never been more sorry about something."

"I thought Simon killed you." Louis laughed, no emotion in the act.

"I woke up in the middle of the night before the job that night, and I puked up blood. I called 911, and the doctors told me I had leukemia. Pretty messed up, right? Simon offered to pay for my medical care, and I started chemo and everything. But it wasn't working. I was getting sicker. So, I picked up my stuff, and started programming again to pay back Simon. Doing small jobs and stuff. Then, I started traveling. Now I live here. Trying to impact as many people's lives as possible before I die."

Louis was deathly quiet. "I'm so sorry, Ed."

"I've come to terms with it. I'm going to die soon. Nothing I can do about it." Ed coughed, shifting his beanie, and it became clear to Louis that Ed's once red and luscious hair - was gone. "God doesn't watch out for little people like me, so I'll do his job for him. No big deal. How is Simon, anyways?"

"Same as always." Louis flicked his cigarette. "But we have real business to talk. I recently did a job with some good people. Now one of them is getting married to a shady dude, and we need help getting dirt on the company that he works for, which is in deep for money laundering. We need a computer guy, since our computer guy is the one getting married, and he can't know, Ed." 

Ed looked at the ground, fiddling with where his hands were in his pockets. "Okay. Okay."

"It's Luke." Louis finally said, quietly.

"Count me in. This'll be payback for me skipping out on the job, and to make that bastard fry." Liam looked to the stars, grateful. "You're a little guy, Louis. I'll look out for you."

"Aw, give me a break! I'm big!"

\---

Ed was back at the hotel with them, taking a short nap since he got tired very easily. They had gone back to the hotel immediately, offering Ed to stay with them for the night, before they headed back to Louis' in the morning.

"Can we trust him?" Liam asked, from his spot next to Louis. The two of them were sharing a bed.

"I trust him. And we don't exactly have options. If we want to save Zayn, then we have to do this. You believe that, right?"

"Yes." After he said that, he then paused. "But I don't want you to think that I'm doing this just because I'm in love with Zayn. I wouldn't ruin his relationship if I didn't believe that something wasn't wrong. If you don't trust Luke, Louis, I don't either. And I trust what I know. I trust you."

Louis felt encouraged by Liam's speech, but he still felt incredibly disheartened. He wondered if Harry and him were moving too quickly. Did anyone think that they weren't good together? Would they stand the test of time?

Louis didn't like how dark his thoughts got so quickly, so he decided to fall asleep, before he could worry himself any more.


	10. Chapter 10

~I never counted all of mine,

If I tried, I know it would feel like infinity,

Infinity, infinity, yeah,

Infinity~

 

The next morning, Ed was hard at work when the others woke up. He took the coffee that Louis made, and kept to himself while they got ready for the drive back home. "He's very different from Zayn." Zayn talked a lot while he worked. Liam found it endearing.

While Liam's brain went on a rant about Zayn, he thought that maybe he just had a crush on him. Something that would go away once he was positive that there was no chance between them. Zayn had every reason in the world to hate Liam.

Liam just wanted one more chance.

"Time to go, Ed." Louis finally said, urging the other one out of the chair.

"I need vodka." Ed said, instead of moving.

"Ed, you have cancer." Louis stated. "And we need you sober to help us."

"Don't worry about me missing work." Ed said, on a different train of thought, already. "They know that I'm dying. And I emailed them to say that I'm not dead, I've got a bad cold."

Liam eyed Louis. "Very different."

"Don't sass me." Ed said, clearly a very different person in the sunrise than in the dark. That was the only attribute he shared with Zayn. Zayn thrived in the darkness, as well. "I need vodka."

"I'm not supporting your drinking habits. I'll buy you some orange juice and an Egg McMuffin at McDonald's instead."

"Wait, but I want that too." Liam chimed in.

"Fine. We can all get that then." Louis sighed, feeling as if he was dealing with children. If his own daughter was this infuriating, then he didn't want children.

\---

"Okay." Lou said, sitting down at the table in Zayn's hotel room. "Let's dissect all of these items."

Zayn was playing with Lux while Lou and Harry tried to solve the mystery of where exactly Niall Horan was. "We printed these images out, which we both think are of the location where Niall is being kept."

"And you know that this woman who kidnapped him is related to the man who he broke out of prison. And he also broke out of prison. Harry, I have an obligation, as a bounty hunter, to turn him in, even if I don't get paid for it."

Harry pinched the bridge of his nose. "Lou, just not this one. Please. I'll bribe you, whatever. Just please don't arrest Niall Horan."

"Give me a good reason."

"He doesn't deserve what happened to him. He was a little clueless kid, fresh out of college, who will be in jail for the rest of his life because of that mistake. He doesn't get to live his life. Meet someone. Have kids." Harry was always the one to guilt trip others into things, and Lou finally dropped the subject, letting Harry continue with the evidence. "So yes, she is related to this man. We just don't know how. This is a key, maybe to that place. And the emails."

"Zayn. That's your name, right?" Zayn nodded at Lou. "Can you pull up all information on the case of Connor Rodes? See if there are any mentions of Evelyn, or a sister, a mother, aunt, etc."

Zayn sat down at his computer, and Harry grabbed Lux. He tried to get her to give him a kiss, but she pushed his face away. How rude. He started singing to her softly. "It's getting crazy. I think I'm losing it. I think I'm losing it."

"Harry, what song is that?" Lou asked.

"Just a bit of a blurb I came up with on my own."

"You could be a singer if you wanted to." She told him, instead of working.

"Nah. I like who I am now. I like baking and driving cars and hanging out with Louis."

"Triple barf." Zayn rolled his eyes. Luke hadn't changed his personality, then. He still thought that Harry and Louis' lovey dovey attitude was excessive. "She's his little sister. Evelyn Rodes. She was sixteen when Connor was arrested and the trial began."

"But why does she want Niall? Is there going to be a ransom? There's no one that will pay it."

"Read the emails, genius." Lou told Harry. "They are talking about evidence from her brother's case. She may be gathering a case to prove his innocence, and clear Niall of his blame."

"Niall must have found something out that did not prove his innocence, and cut ties." Harry interjected. "And she found him and kidnapped him to get his statement or something. We have to find him."

"Niall is a whole box of mysteries. Keeps getting himself in trouble." Zayn shook his head.

"Okay. Now that we know the why, how, and when. We need the where." Lou started looking at the pictures. "Are we assuming that they are in Ireland? How did she get him on a plane from Chicago here?"

"She'd want to take him back here." Zayn said. "This is where all of the attorneys who worked on the case are. Where the scene of the crime is."

"So, we're assuming they are in Ireland. People tend to stay close to home, so we can assume that she is within a fifty mile radius of her house. We don't have a street name, so this will be infinitely harder." Lou gave her daughter a ziploc bag full of goldfish.

"We have the house number." Harry said, bouncing Lux on his lap. "So search that number."

"It'll take us forever to search through all of the results." Zayn said.

"Do it anyways." Harry told him. Zayn set up a search, and the group of them piled around the screen, looking at the photos of all of the houses.

Lux climbed onto Zayn, and started touching the screen. "Pretty houses. Pretty houses. That one is pretty." Zayn lingered on that picture a second longer so that Lux could admire the pretty picture.

"Wait. I think that's it." Lou said, laughing. "Yeah." She held the picture up next to the screen. "We did it. We found Niall."


	11. Chapter 11

~Eyes can't shine,

Unless there's something burning bright behind~

 

 

H: Don't leave London yet. We need you in Galway.

L: Ireland? I'm already back in Doncaster. Why, Harry?

H: We found him. We just need your help breaking him out. He's been kidnapped by this chick

L: you need me and Liam?

H: yes. You're our muscle.

L: i'll try to find some tickets

 

"Hey, Ed. Do you mind staying here for like two days? We need to run up to Ireland."

"What?" Liam asked, from his position on the couch.

"They found Niall, and they need backup. So we have to go. Now. Pack a bag. Or don't unpack the last one."

"I forgot how exciting all of this is." Ed said excitedly. "Don't worry. I have cash. I'll buy myself food and stuff. And I'll work."

Louis and Liam were out the door within twenty minutes, headed for the nearest airport. "I just wanted a quiet life."

"It seems like our lives are the promotional trailer for Baby Driver. Every way out just leads us right back in."

Louis scoffed at Liam's saying. "You're right, but I wish you weren't."

\---

Liam and Zayn laughed as Louis and Harry kissed in the middle of the airport. Then the both of them retreated to their separate sides. "You must be Lou." Louis said to the woman with them. "I'm Louis."

"Yes, hello. And this is Lux." Lux hid from Louis, and motioned for Harry to pick her up.

"Hey, Liam." Zayn said, eyeing him suspiciously.

Liam kept a neutral face. "We better get an iced coffee for when we get Niall." He smiled.

"Yes. Let's get in the car! There's no time to waste." Harry led the way to the rental.

Louis had to sit on the floor of the car, since he was the smallest, and there weren't enough seats. Harry was driving, and Lou was giving him directions. "Wait, we're going there now?" Liam asked.

"There's no time to waste." Harry said. "It's four of us against one girl."

"Three of you. I'm not beating anyone up." Zayn said.

"Bad guy." Lux said.

"Three and a half of us." Liam laughed at Lux.

"Four." Lou commented. "I've beat up my fair share of people. But once we get him, I'm going to enjoy the rest of my vacation."

"Deal." Everyone nodded to the plan.

\---

Louis eventually had to stretch his legs, and Zayn and him both needed a smoke, so they stopped. Harry ordered Niall's iced coffee for him, and they sat at the gas station, waiting for the blood to return to Louis' legs.

"Are you going to tell me what you were doing in London?" Harry eyed his boyfriend and his partner.

"Catching up with an old friend on mine. He's crashing at my place for a couple days. He's got leukemia and wanted to connect ties before he died." Harry was shocked at the intricacy of what he thought was a lie. He looked at Liam, who nodded.

"It's true. Ed's dying." Liam bit his lip and looked over at Zayn, who was laughing at Lux. "I'm dying."

"Sorry, Liam, but I've got to rag on you a bit. Okay, so we're talking to Simon. He heard about Zayn getting married. Thought it was to Liam. Liam freaking inhaled whatever he was eating."

"It was a cookie. And shut up. Zayn might hear you." He motioned to Zayn, who seemed to want to get closer to them and talk to them, but didn't.

"Sorry, Liam." Harry said, and Liam smiled, as if to say that it was okay.

But he didn't.

Because he knew it wasn't.


	12. Chapter 12

~Since you went away, there's nothing left in mine,

I feel myself running out of time~

 

 

When they pulled up in front of the little cottage, there were no cars in front of the house. Liam picked up a really large stick from the front lawn, and walked over to the door. Zayn watched over Lux protectively, just in case. "Louis, back me up."

Louis jiggled the doorknob, finding it locked. Then, Liam kicked the door down, sweeping into the room with his stick. "Liam!" Niall screamed, from his position on the floor. "Louis! Harry!" He started to cry, as they all took in the scenario.

Niall was handcuffed to a metal radiator - something that should have gone out of production many years ago. He was covered in dirt and grime; his cheeks looked hollow, and he couldn't stop crying. "Get me out of here, please. The key's in the top drawer there."

Harry ran to get the key, and Louis rushed to comfort Niall. "Are you okay? Injured?"

"No. Nothing like that." Niall said. "We just have to leave before she gets back. Oh, how did you find me, guys?" Harry got him free, and him and his boyfriend pulled him up from the ground.

"We worked as a team." Liam said, simply. "Well, Harry, Zayn, and Lou - as in the girl Lou, did a lot of it. Louis and I were busy with other things. Sorry."

"Let's get out of here." He said. "First stop. The coffee shop. Because I need coffee."

"It's in the car." Liam told his friend, and helped the other two carry Niall out to the car. There was definitely not enough room, so Louis, this time, sat at Lou's feet in the passenger seat, and Zayn sat on the floor in the back.

"Here's your drink." Harry said finally, handing Niall the drink once they were all settled.

Niall began to eagerly suck the drink down. "Food? Can we get food?"

"What do you want?" Louis asked.

"Anything." Niall started to cry again, and then held his stomach. Liam hugged him, holding him tight, while he cried.

"Drive to the nearest fast food place. We need to get him some food."

"We'll take you to my mum's." Harry said. "Once we're back in England. She'll take care of you. Give you some nice homecooked meals."

"Do we just want to drop off Lou and Lux and then take the ferry back to England? It'll be cheaper than a flight for the five of us." Louis brought up this idea, and Harry nodded.

"It's a rental, so we'll just return it, and venture out. But we need to hurry, then, because it's already five o'clock, and we have to drive to the ferry." Harry started working out logistics.

"If we take the backroads," Niall started. "And you don't get pulled over, Harry. We'll get there in time for the last ferry. We'll have time to spare. I'll tell you where the backroads are."

Harry just nodded, pulling into the Burger King parking lot. He ordered for Niall, and got a baby fry for Lux, who was complaining back there. "Back to the hotel, then?" He asked Lou, who nodded.

She was awful quiet, most likely because she knew that she was in the presence of someone she was supposed to turn in to the authorities. But she was letting it go. Just like Elsa.

The drive-thru attendant looked at them funny, all crammed into the car like that, but they didn't care. Niall inhaled his burger within three seconds, and then the second one. And then a large fry. All of Louis' credit card, of course. But it was worth it. Because they saved Niall.

He was their friend.

It was what he had always wanted - they had all known it that day that met him. He wanted people who would have his back. Protect him.

And he found exactly that in One Direction.

\---

"Haz?" Louis asked to the boy who was half-asleep on the ferry. The high levels of dramamine were making him sleepy. In fact, Louis was the only one left awake.

"Hmmm?" He replied to his boyfriend, looking up to his face. Harry's head was in Louis' lap, and the hand dragging through his hair was calming.

"I don't want this drama anymore." He whispered, tears falling silently. "I just want you and I. Out there. In the world. Sticking to the rules. Traveling. Just you and I against the world."

Harry yawned. "That sounds nice." Another yawn followed that, and Louis felt one stirring in his throat. "But what I really want is some cheesecake."

Lou frowned. "I'm being serious, you idiot. After Zayn's wedding, we have to be good citizens. Maybe we'll move away, if you want? Live somewhere new? We could move to America. Live somewhere like Montana. Or in the city if you want?"

"But I was gonna open a bakery." He pouted.

"They'll like your bakery better in America. I just...I just want to escape, Harry. And the only person I want to do that with is you."

"Let's talk about this more in the morning." He finally sighed. "Goodnight, Lou Bear."

"Goodnight, Hazza."


	13. Chapter 13

~And now I'm one step closer to being,

Two steps far from you~

 

 

"Thanks for picking us up, mum." Harry said to Anne, running to be the first to meet the car as they came off the ferry. "Will you take us back to your house?"

"Of course, love. Anything for you." He kissed her cheek as he climbed into the passenger seat. Liam laid the still asleep Niall down in the back, and the other three found seats in the middle row of Anne's SUV.

"Hello, Anne." Louis said brightly.

"Hi, Louis." She smiled. "Nice to see you again. Who are the others, Harry?"

"These are my friends. Zayn, Liam, and back there is Niall. He's going through a rough bit. I was wondering maybe, if he could stay at yours for a couple of days. I'll stay at home with him too."

Louis was alarmed. He thought Harry was going back to Doncaster with him. But, Harry was grown. Didn't need Louis' approval for everything. He would just liked to be clued in, maybe.

"Of course, dear." Anne said.

"Oh, man. I've got to call Luke." Zayn got his phone out and started calling.

"Yeah, mum. We need to drop Zayn off in London." Anne nodded to Harry, who put some soft music on.

Liam nudged Louis leg, making him look up. "What is it, Liam?"

Liam looked out the window, instead of at Louis. "I-i changed my mind. I don't want to say it anymore."

Louis was too tired to press into Liam's emotional problems, so he just laid on his shoulder and slept instead.

\---

"I'll make some coffee while you wait for your Uber." Harry said. "Or you can wait to call it."

"We'll wait a bit, won't we Liam?" Liam was dead on his feet as he carried Niall inside. Harry let Niall take the bed in his room for the night. Then, Anne went up and off to bed, and Harry started making coffee.

"I'm so tired." Liam said, fake crying.

"I wish we could all go to a skate park again." Louis joked. "That was a fun night."

"We got chased by the cops." Harry joked.

"Zayn and I kissed for the first time that night." Liam said wistfully, waiting for the coffee with his head on the table.

"Wait, wait, wait. First time implies that there were more than one time."

"Yeah." Liam replied to Louis. "We made out in the closet that one night you sent him to get UNO cards, and I was so angry with myself for making out with a dude that I pushed him into the shelves. He hit his head. I thought I told you this, Louis."

"You might have." He thought about it. "Yeah, I do remember you talking about this once over the phone. Sorry you had to spill that in front of Harry."

Harry was shocked. "The tea is boiling tonight."

The group waited for the coffee. Harry stood, and the two others sat. Harry was thinking about his sister just then, while Louis thought of building his dream house, and Liam thought of Zayn. He didn't know what he wanted to do for the rest of his life - besides becoming a police officer one day, and the only other thing he knew was that he wanted Zayn. He did. He loved Zayn.

"I'm in love with him." Liam said, albeit quietly, as Harry began pouring cups for them all.

"Liam..." Harry sighed.

"I don't want your warnings or condolences, Harold. It's just a fact. I'm in love with Zayn Malik." Liam watched Harry put the creamer in their cups. Meanwhile, the room kept silent.

"You have to tell him." Harry advised. 

"Bet." Liam replied, with a chuckle. "I don't think I'll tell him. I don't want his feelings about Luke to change."

Harry seemed to explode. He had a million different things to say. Finally he pushed Liam's cup towards him, and leaned in to him. "You're an idiot if you think that Luke is any better than you. Or that he deserves Zayn more than you do."

"What are you implying, Haz?" Louis asked, scalding his tongue because he was too impatient to wait.

"I don't like Luke, okay." Harry started pacing. "But we can't break up his and Zayn's wedding. That's immoral. Zayn will hate us forever. Especially if we do it simply because we hate Luke, or because you missed your chance, Liam."

Liam looked over at Louis, silently asking if they should tell Harry everything. But Louis shook his head. "Our Uber's here." He said. "Time to go, Liam."

"We'll be back soon. Tell me how Niall is when he wakes up." Louis and Harry shared a hug and a kiss. Liam and Harry hugged after that.

Then the two of them were gone, and Harry slept on the couch.


	14. Chapter 14

~And everybody wants you,

Everybody wants you~

 

 

"Good morning." Ed said, standing over Louis as the alarm went off. "Time to overthrow a corrupt business."

Lou threw a pillow at him. "Too early. That alarm means it's only 7:30."

"No. You slept through that one. And the one after that. It's 8:30." Louis let out a string of curses, but sat up in bed, checking his messages. One from Harry telling him good morning - he always woke up before Louis, even if they were apart. "So, I repeat again. Good morning. Time to overthrow a corrupt business."

"Go wake up Liam or something." Louis sighed, sitting up. He silently screamed at himself for not plugging in his phone before bed, but oh well. He had to live with that now.

"Liam's not here." Ed told him.

"What?" Louis said panickedly, searching Ed's face for the answer. He threw off the covers, and ran down the hall to the office, where the air mattress was. Liam wasn't there. Liam wasn't anywhere.

Louis ran back to his room, and unplugged his phone, calling his friend. "What do you want?" Liam asked, in an angry tone.

"Oh thank god. I thought something had happened to you." Louis sat down on his bed, falling back. Ed sat gingerly next to him.

"I'm just taking a personal day. Going out to relax in nature. Call me if anything interesting happens."

Louis sighed. "Okay. Just...don't do anything stupid, okay, Liam?"

"Is that the same as doing something dumb?" He asked. "I'm only joking, Louis. I'm just overwhelmed with the whole Zayn thing. I'm just gonna like get a really good meal. Watch a movie. Get a massage or something. Have a me day."

"Okay." Louis stared at the ceiling. "I'll keep working with Ed on getting evidence and stuff. Bye."

As soon as he hung up, Ed eagerly jumped into the conversation. "Actually, I've found enough information."

\---

Louis looked at the stack of printed paper. "So, you're telling me that in twenty four hours, you found enough information to incriminate All Star Security and send them to jail for good."

"All except for Luke. I left him out, at your request. But, yes. I am done."

"Damn. You're better than Zayn."

"Always happy to help. I sent it to Simon two hours ago, and he should be getting back to me shortly about whether it will be enough."

"I can't thank you enough, Ed." Louis stood up from the couch and hugged his friend.

Ed blushed. "Just doin' my job. I'll let you know when Simon replies to my email, but you've got to take me out for breakfast. Or brunch. I don't care."

Louis smiled at him, then pushed him out of his room. "Okay. I'm going to take a shower, and then we'll head out, okay?"

Ed nodded, running out of the room, pushing his beanie down on his head. Louis smiled and then laughed. It was finally all coming together.

\---

"Liam, pick up! Pick up!" Louis said, crying. Ed wasn't sure why he was crying - the news wasn't that sad. Liam didn't pick up the phone, of course. He could've been anywhere. Doing anything.

"Louis, please stop crying." Ed said, from across the room. He crossed his arms over his body.

Simon had replied to the email. His response was why Louis was crying.

It's not enough.

"They need physical proof in order to start the case. Any of that stuff I found can be faked."

"So that just means that we have to break into All Star Security." Louis said. "I can't do that. I'm done breaking into places."

Ed walked out of Louis' bedrooms, deciding that Louis needed a minute before the next step could be achieved. But he had a feeling that whatever that was, his expertise was going to be needed just one more time.

\---

"Liam Payne, this is a one time pass." Louis said to the figure who was passed out on the park bench. "I will not ask questions, and you are coming with me now."

Liam had called him just a few hours after Louis retired to his room to watch T.V. instead of stressing out about All Star Security. He had blabbered on an on. Louis had assumed he was drunk and came to pick him up.

When Louis got there, Liam was dead asleep. So Louis dragged Liam to the car, since he was well bigger than him. "He's drunk. I am taking him home." He told passerby.

In the car, Liam was still asleep as Louis drove to Holmes Chapel. It was time to fill Harry and Niall in. And they needed their help if they were going to break into All Star Security.

\---

"What do you mean?" Harry asked Louis, who was safe inside the car. He was on the phone with Harry, who was on speakerphone out there so that Niall could hear. "Louis, roll down the window. Or unlock the door."

"No, you're going to beat me!" He screamed, and Liam finally woke up, moaning.

"Where am I?"

"Go back to sleep, Liam!" Louis screamed at him, and Harry started pounding on the window.

"Louis Tomlinson, you have been intentionally trying to sabotage Luke's company?" Harry screamed.

"Yeah, what's the deal with that?" Niall demanded.

"We'll fill you in later, Niall. Luke did some bad stuff to Louis once, and now Louis is trying to sabotage the relationship."

"No! On all the evidence Ed found, he left Luke's information out." Louis said, flinching away from the window. "I'm doing the right thing! Being a good person!"

"Why are you telling me this now?" Harry said, pounding on the window.

"Simon said that we have to get physical evidence! We have to break in!" Liam sighed in the back, and Niall laughed.

"Count me in." He said, but Louis knew that it would take more than that to get Harry in on it.

A lot more.


	15. Chapter 15

~How many nights does it take to count the stars?,

That's the time it would take to fix my heart,

Oh, baby, I was there for you,

All I ever wanted was the truth, yeah, yeah~

 

 

"This may be the easiest thing I've ever done." Louis yawned. It only took three seconds for Ed to override the security system.

"You'd think that a security company would have better security." Niall joked, sweeping into the front lobby with a large stick as his weapon.

"Cameras are down." Ed told them through the walkie-talkie he had. Ed wasn't actually that far away - he was just in the car with Harry.

Louis, Liam, and Niall walked down the long hallway, towards Paul's office. It was Sunday - the one day that they could guarantee that no one would be there. There were pictures on the walls - the company was very close knit. There were company barbecues, and sure enough, pictures of the clan - Luke, Perrie, and Palmer, together.

"Niall, pop this door." Louis demanded, looking at the door to Paul's office.

"It's unlocked." Niall laughs nervously. "I want to go home."

Liam opened the door, stepping inside, prepared to protect the others. Louis flipped on the light switch, showing them an empty, standard office. "Okay. In and out as soon as we can." Liam told the group this, and they started searching through the files.

"Do you have your gloves on?" Harry asked through the walkie-talkie.

"Yes, Harold." Niall replied, looking at everyone's hands.

"If you see something important, just shove it into this folder." Louis said, dumping out an already full folder so that it was now empty. Niall began opening locked drawers, and Liam shifted through papers in the filing cabinet.

"Thank god they haven't gone paperless." He sighed, putting a handful of the stuff he saw in the designated folder.

"This one." Niall said, unlocking a drawer with his lock set. "There's several locks on it, and I can tell that there's case files inside."

"How?" Louis asked him.

"I've opened a lot of things with case files inside, okay? I just know." He smiled, opening the drawer. "Easy as pie."

"A piece of cake, you mean?" Liam laughed, helping him take all of the case files out. "Yes. These are all of the files from celebrities and bands they've been hired to protect."

"We need to go then." Louis told the group, looking at the mess. "Leave no trace behind obviously failed."

Liam laughed, a demented look in his eyes. Louis was really worried about him, especially considering him falling asleep on a park bench drunk, just a couple days prior. Then Liam picked up the sorry excuse for a weapon - the stick, and smashed it into the lamp.

Niall screamed, and then Louis pulled a can of spray paint out of the pocket of his cargo shorts - immediately spraying their logo on the wall.

1D.

Simon would probably fight them for this, but it was going to be worth it. Liam needed to get his anger out, and they were fighting the forces of evil - making sure that the money stayed in the hands of those that deserved it. Not those who stole it.

"Alarms reset in 60 seconds!" Ed screamed into the walkie-talkie. "I won't be able to hack them before you set them off! Run!"

Liam knocked over the file cabinet, and Niall pulled on his muscled arm. "We have to go now!"

"Let's go, Liam!" Louis screamed.

"Fine!" The three of them ran down the hall and out the front door.

As they got in the car, Harry speeding off, Ed and Louis began looking at the data they received. "This...this is...wow." Louis put his hand over his mouth.

"Simon's going to be so excited." Ed giggled. "We get back and I'll scan these in, and mail them to him."

"Well, we did it." Harry sighed. "But at what cost?"

"We'll leave Luke's information out of it. He can lie if everyone goes to trial. He's a good liar." Louis said. "How you doin', Liam?"

"Fine. I'm ready for this dumb wedding to be over so I can go home, gain two hundred pounds, and never leave my house. Maybe I'll become a youtuber or blog about my feelings."

"Good plan." Niall replied. "I'm going to buy an apartment in some small town in America. Maybe I'll live in like Idaho or something." 

"Where even is Idaho?" Harry laughed.

"I wanna live in some beach house or something." Louis said. "Wake up every morning with a beautiful view."

"That sounds nice." Ed smiled.

Louis cringed. "Sorry, Ed."

"No, it's fine. I've traveled the world. I've seen the sights. I'm perfectly happy spending the rest of my life in dingy bars and working for the Peace Corps."

"Okay." Harry smiled at Ed.

"Can I spend the night, Louis? Then I'll head back up to London."

"Sure, Ed. Harry, you going back to your mum's?"

"Yeah. She's going to let Niall stay until the wedding, so I'll stay too. Come up tomorrow, though? All of us'll go to the park?"

"Sounds fun." Liam smiled.


	16. Chapter 16

~How many nights have you wished someone would stay?,

Lay awake only hoping they're okay~

 

 

Harry pulled into a parking spot near the front of the post office. Ed had already taken high-quality pictures on his phone and emailed them to Simon, but the hard copies needed to be sent to him as soon as possible. Thus, where they currently were. "It's fine. I'll go in alone." Harry said, grabbing the papers. "Won't let them cheat me out of a deal."

And while he went in, he left the others to discuss what they'd been discussing. "Today is Sunday. Wedding is in six days."

"Okay, Louis." Liam snarled, since his friend was just stating the obvious. "But when do we tell Zayn?"

"After the rehearsal dinner." Niall suggested. "Oh, and can I get some new hair dye on the way home? Haven't had a change up in a while, and I don't want Evelyn to find me."

"Fine." Louis sighed. "But, after the rehearsal dinner? That's so close to the actual wedding? He'll probably uninvite us." Liam was very quiet for a moment. "And that's five days away?"

"Five days in which the information can get to Simon." Ed pointed out, before going back to playing Candy Crush and sipping his Starbucks.

"It's our only option. It'll feel like an intervention if we pull him out of his pre-wedding getting ready stuff. After the rehearsal dinner, we'll just sit him down, and tell him about everything."

"Oh my god, I have to prepare a speech." Louis thought, ready to throw up after listening to Niall's speech.

"What? No you don't." Liam told him.

Louis just looked out the window. "There's a lot that I haven't said about Luke. And I think Zayn needs to know it."

"That sounds really dark, Louis. Did he hurt you?" Niall turned around, a worrisome look in his eyes.

Louis opened the car door to catch a breeze, and then he laughed, but it didn't relieve any tension. "Yeah."

"Physically? Emotionally? Mentally?" Liam asked, also worried.

"I-i don't, don't want to talk about it." He replied to that, watching his boyfriend come back out, without the important papers. "How'd it go?"

"Pretty boring, really." Harry replied. "Let's go home."

\---

"So, we decided that we're going to talk to Zayn on Friday night, after the dinner." Niall told Harry, as they pulled up in front of his mum's house.

"That reminds me. Lottie's coming to the dinner." Louis said, looking at his grubby nails.

"We should totally get manicures." Harry gushed, and then realized what he said. "I mean, like, to make sure that your nails stay healthy."

Liam pursed his lips a bit. Louis sighed. "We can go sometime tomorrow, if you want. But I want to get like Catwoman nails. Matte black."

"Can I get my toenails done? Firetruck red." Niall added. "Also, pedicures are amazing."

"I want something sparkly." Harry smiled at his family.

Liam was over the whole thing, but it was nice for him to see how serious they were about the whole event. Not only girls could get their nails done. "Is this how gay people make their descent into gayness?" Ed asked, laughing.

"I will stab you with my catwoman nail." Louis laughed at him.

"Gay people don't have to be flamboyant. And they don't have to label themselves. There's plenty of people with many other sexualities that are flamboyant, or extra. I just happen to like being flamboyant." Harry said. "I like to dress nice. Wear some frilly shirts on occasion. Who cares? It's 2018. Be who you want to be."

"Amen." Louis said, snagging Ed's drink. "I love you, Hazza."

"Love you too, Lou Bear."

"Get a room!" Niall and Liam yelled as Harry got out of the car. Then they laughed at their synchronicity.


	17. Chapter 17

~I never counted all of mine,

If I tried, I know it would feel like infinity~

 

 

"Look at us. It's just the same as it was before."

"Louis is stealing a football from a kid again." Harry sighed in response to Liam's statement.

"And you brought a picnic again, too." Niall laughed. "Now give me the cookies."

Harry took the cookie container out of his satchel, and tried to open it. "This sucks." He said, looking down at his fresh nails. "This actually sucks." He was unable to open the container.

"But at least you'll be the hottest guy at the wedding." Louis said, one fresh soccer ball under his arm as he returned to their blanket. "Yes, even hotter than Zayn."

Liam sighed. "Zayn's only ever worn black jeans and black shirts and hoodies. I don't know what he'll look like in a suit."

"On a gay flamboyant level," Harry started. "My prediction is that Zayn cleans up nice, and he's a total babe. Not my type. But a total babe."

"True, though." Louis said, rolling up his sleeves.

"Ew. Why am I surrounded by people who are all attracted to Zayn?" Niall said, grabbing the container of cookies for himself and opening it with ease.

"Okay, who's playing footie?" Louis asked, and then laughed at their shocked looks.

"It's actually kind of sad that Zayn isn't here. It doesn't feel the same." Niall added. "But I'll play." He stood up, and Liam and Harry also wandered over there, making sure that the cookies were hidden.

"Why is it called football again?" Liam asked, kicking the grass. "It's soccer."

Louis gasped. "How dare you call her soccer? Beware of cultural appropriation, or whatever it's called, Liam, my darling."

"Harry's jealous." Niall said, and Harry over-exaggerated crossing his arms and put on a mad face.

"We have to educate this fool." Harry finally sighed, becoming himself again. "He must become British."

"These," Louis started, gesturing to his suspenders. "Are braces."

"But those are the things that fix your crooked teeth!" Liam exclaimed. "Ah, I didn't have to suffer this when Zayn was here."

"And I hope you know that we call fries, chips and chips, crisps." Niall added.

Liam sighed. "We're done with this game." He kicked the soccer ball across the field.

"The adjective 'pissed' here means drunk." Harry told Liam, who eyed him suspiciously and ran back to eat the rest of the cookies.

"All of this stress makes me wish I still did drugs." He sighed. 

"Liam!" Niall yelled at him. "That's illegal!"

"So is breaking out of prison!" Liam yelled back, and then flipped Niall off. Liam started eating the cookies, and marveled in how good they were - Harry really should open a bakery.

"Do you all remember when Louis here -" Niall slung his arm around Louis when he came back from getting the ball. "-bought that cheesecake from the mall?"

"That was weird, and I'm American." Liam sighed, not in the reminiscing mood. Niall took a cookie, and Louis started kicking the ball around with Harry.

"I'm worried about Liam." Harry sighed. "This whole Zayn thing has really got him down." Louis sighed, not knowing how to begin to fix this mess. Because while Flex Tape can fix everything, it can't fix your inner demons. So that was out the window.

"Let's walk, everyone." Louis said, ever the mother hen. The group packed up the picnic, and started walking down the road. Liam looked at the ground wistfully, remembering the good times.

"I keep getting lost in the old memories. But I really just want to make new ones." Liam sighed. "We're young, you know?"

"I'm an old soul." Harry told the group, snuggling into his sweater deeper.

Louis rolled up the sleeves of the sweater he was wearing, which belonged to Harry. "I don't ever want to grow up. Oh my god, are you like the old grandma from Hook, and I'm that ugly Peter Pan? Ew."

"Hook was a good movie." Niall laughed, taking another cookie from the container Liam was holding.

"I wish you would stop comparing us to characters from movies." Harry said, taking his boyfriend's hand. Soon, they were at the car, and they all got in, tired. "Were you not going to return the football?"

"Nah." Louis said, putting his feet up on the dash. "I like it."

"Louis." Harry looked over at him from the driver's seat.

"lOuIs." He mocked back.

"Can we just go get ice cream?" Liam sighed.

"You just ate fifty cookies!" Niall laughed.

"Exactly."


	18. Chapter 18

~Infinity, infinity, yeah,

Infinity,

Infinity (x2)~

 

 

Everyone was dressed semi-formally for this dinner. Earlier in the day, they went out and bought Liam and Niall some fancy clothes to wear, and then they had gone to a movie before heading over to the restaurant. Lottie was also hanging out with them all day, since she was going to the rehearsal dinner, and Harry's mum, Anne, was going to meet them there.

It was a nice restaurant. Too nice for Louis, but Zayn, in the atmosphere, looked like he fit right in. He was wearing a black blazer and slacks, and he looked like he belonged in the spotlight.

But not everyone knew that he hated it there.

Zayn belonged in a comfy desk chair at three in the morning. Sipping vanilla lattes. Chain smoking even though it would mess up his lungs. Hacking and doing computer things. Simply, he belonged in the dark.

But he thought that he could pretend to like it, since that's where Luke always seemed to be.

The two families were getting together rather well - Zayn's family must have caved and came to London to see their son marry. There was lots of alcohol and stories flowing between the two sides of the table.

Zayn sat at one end, and Luke at the other end. And at the other table was the four boys, Lottie, Anne, Perrie, and Palmer. "I don't like any of this food." Louis said, looking at the menu. "Can I get a kids menu?"

Harry pursed his lips and looked at the menu he had in his hands. "This is pasta. You like pasta."

"Yeah, but all of them have vegetables in them."

"Oh my god." Niall groaned. "There's also salads. And steaks."

"He's a really picky eater." Lottie said, menu closed already, sipping her drink.

"Tell me about it." Harry rolled his eyes.

"This gives me anxiety." Louis said, pulling at his collar.

"You're telling me." Liam said, resting his elbow on the table. He had his back to Zayn, since he wanted it that way, but he didn't seem to be enjoying that fact.

"Want to switch?" Niall asked. "Looking doesn't hurt."

Liam shook his head. "It's better this way."

Everyone was pretty quiet for a while, and Louis finally ordered some plain fettuccine alfredo. Then he put his feet on Harry's lap and laid his head on his shoulder. "Instagram moment." Anne cried, pulling out her phone.

Louis and Harry turned toward the camera and smiled as the picture was taken, and then documented into Instagram with the caption, my boys.

"You know..." Louis said softly. Harry urged him to continue. "I think my mum would've liked you."

"That means a lot, Louis. Thank you." Harry kissed his forehead.

"She would've liked you a lot too, Anne." He said, louder. Anne smiled and mouthed her gratitude.

"How are you doing, Niall?" Liam finally turned and asked, deciding that small talk was better than worrying about what would happen after this dinner.

Niall looked into his drink. "I'm doin' okay." He ran a hand through his dark brown hair. "Trying to figure out the rest of my life, and it's not going the best."

"Me." Louis chuckled. "Literally me."

"Just go with the flow." Harry told them. "Don't feel the need to have a plan. Just do what makes you happy."

Lottie patted Louis' legs after a while, noticing that he seemed guarded this evening. "Are you alright, Lou?"

"Nervous." He said, putting his hands in his lap and fidgeting. "About finally getting it all out there."

Lottie knew what he meant - she was his confidante back in the day. "You don't have to tell them, Lou. You can keep that to yourself."

"I think it's time." He said instead, and sat in his own seat, noticing the food was coming. "It's my decision, Lottie. And I'm ready."


	19. Chapter 19

~How many nights does it take to count the stars?,

That's the time it would take to fix my heart~

 

 

Everyone began walking back to the hotel, when the four of them pulled Zayn back and away from Luke. "Think we could hang out for a bit? We have some stuff we want to talk about." Niall told him.

"Of course." Zayn said, looking back at his man and blowing a kiss.

Luke gave them a panicked look, and stood next to Zayn. "So this is about that, then."

"About what?" Zayn asked.

"I don't want him in the room." Louis said to Harry, acting very scared and not at all like his normal self.

"Louis has some things to say, Luke." Harry said, stepping in front of Louis. "He doesn't want you to hear them. It's pretty personal." He guessed on that, of course, but it had to be personal if Louis was acting this weird about it.

"I'll be right outside." Luke said, as they walked up to Zayn's room.

"You guys are scaring me." Zayn said, taking off his suit jacket. He sat on the bed, fidgeted with his hands. Then he pulled out a smoke and opened the balcony door. Harry handed one to Lou, who was shaking. He lit the cigarette, and then took a drag before started to talk.

"So, I already told you that Luke was a member of my first group." He said, in a very low tone. Liam stood by the doorway, wanting to leave. Zayn nodded, and Louis continued. "I was put into the group with Luke, Perrie, and Palmer late in the game, as Simon overestimated their skills, and they needed a fourth member. But they were already the best of friends." He started talking faster to get through it, and Harry held onto him, even though he couldn't stand the smoke. "Perrie and Palmer despised me. Still do. I don't know why. I was nice to them. But I was an outsider."

His breathing got especially ragged. Harry held onto him tighter. Niall raided the mini fridge. "Luke was the only one, who, after a while, was openly nice. He was also really flirtatious. I was a baby gay back then, baby...whatever. I thought he liked me, maybe."

Zayn's face showed confusion, and Harry watched it closely for any signs of anger or aggression, just in case he needed to protect Louis against Zayn. "I finally got up the courage to, you know, ask him out, and he shot me down. He told me that he wasn't gay. That I misinterpreted everything wrong and-"

"He's changed that standing." Zayn laughed in a small voice.

Louis flinched like the sound caused him pain. "Oh my god, I'm gonna start crying." He said, taking another drag. "He didn't turn me down nicely, though. He freaking persecuted me. He called me gay, even though I don't want to put a label on anything, and he started bullying me. Like actually bullying me. My self-esteem couldn't handle it back then - my mom was dying, and I had no friends." Louis was sobbing now, and Harry turned him away from Zayn, who was trying to process this, as was everyone else.

"Louis, it's okay." Harry said. "Please stop crying, baby."

"They started excluding details of the mission from me, even though Simon said that if they tried anything, he'd have them all kicked off of the mission." Harry tried to cover his mouth so he would stop talking, and Niall grabbed his cigarette, put it out, and then threw it into an ashtray. But Louis squirmed and kept talking. "And on the day of the heist, they locked me in the closet so I wouldn't help, and they wrote a really mean message to me. And I broke out, and saved them. And after that, Simon said that he wanted to keep me on call for more jobs. He also wanted Perrie, but not Luke or Palmer, so the three of them parted ways with Simon, while I stayed."

Niall jumped in now, from what he knew of what happened next. "The three of them went to work for All Star Security. When the three of them arrived in London to start planning your guy's wedding, he took a visit to Louis' house, and told him about their company business, trying to be friends with him."

"He told Louis about how the security business is all a front for money laundering. They protect and then rob celebrities, and no one has ever suspected them. Louis tried to fight him, but I stopped him from killing him. And Louis found a computer guy to hack into their systems and find evidence of this. And we broke into the office to find physical evidence, and there was so much."

Luke finally came into the room. "So, you're 1D. The guys that robbed that bank in Vegas, and trashed Paul's office. If you try to turn us in, I'll tell them that. I'll tell them that."

"You have no proof!" Niall yelled, face turning red and getting nervous. "No video recordings."

Louis was still sobbing and Zayn was now crying. "Is this true, Luke? All the stuff you did to Louis? And the money laundering?"

"I was just givin' Louis a tough time. Not a big deal."

"He's a human being! The sweetest person I've ever known. Did you ever ask him about his life while you bullied him? He was put onto that team to get money to help him mom, who was dying of leukemia." Luke's face went pale. "And now you're stealing money?"

"You did it too." Luke fired back.

Zayn suddenly turned his anger away from Luke and towards the rest of them like flipping a switch. "I see. This is all part of some elaborate plan to get me to not marry Luke. Who's idea was this? Liam's? Had a sudden change of heart after your head was knocked into that shelf? Oh wait. That was my head."

"It wasn't a scheme!" Louis cried out. "We just wanted you to see exactly who you were marrying? Does Luke even know who you are? Why you got kicked out of MIT?"

"He knows everything about me. And now I know everything about him. But apparently I know nothing about any of you." Zayn wiped the tears off of his cheeks and pointed out the door.

"Get out. Now."


	20. Chapter 20

~Oh, baby, I was there for you,

All I ever wanted was the truth, yeah, yeah~

 

 

"Is Niall here?" Zayn screamed above the chaos.

"Yeah!" Harry yelled at him, pushing against the crowd in the hallway. "I drove him. He went to Starbucks. He's getting you your drink, do not worry!"

Harry finally reached Zayn, and Zayn eyed him distastefully. "I may not be the happiest with you at the moment..." He started. "But I still want you guys here. Where's the L's?"

Harry made a panicked face. "I haven't heard from them today."

"Find them!" Zayn said, then returned to his room to finish getting ready.

Harry walked down to the lobby to await Niall's return, and to call his boyfriend, who was hopefully on his way with Liam. "Where are you?" He yelled when Louis answered the phone.

"At the library." Louis said calmly. "I just can't be there for the ceremony, Harry. I can't do it."

"But you'll come for the food, later?" Harry said with a clipped tone.

"I-i don't know. Do you realize how hard it was for me to confess all of that last night? I didn't stop crying until two in the morning, and I look terrible. Tell Zayn I love him to death, but I just can't do it."

"Louis. You have to be here." Harry begged. Louis hung up the phone instead, and Harry tried to call Liam instead. That one went straight to voicemail, and Harry screamed at the ground.

"Hot chocolate?" Niall asked, handing him the cup.

Harry took the cup angrily, and then drank some. "Thanks, Niall. You're the bestest." Niall hugged Harry, knowing that something was bothering him, and then he took a sip of his iced coffee.

If only he knew that it would be his last one for a long long time.

\---

I should not be here, Liam told himself, shuffling around awkwardly in Zayn's closet. He could hear him out there, singing to himself, getting ready. He sounded happy. This may be the worst idea I've ever had.

When he heard Zayn leave for a moment, he ducked out, leaving a letter on his desk, and then zoomed back into the closet to watch him read it when it came back. Late is better than never right?

He stood there, trying to control his breathing. But he feared that nothing would. Liam just wanted to be home - he didn't really have one but he wanted to be somewhere that felt like home.

The only place that he could think of was back at their headquarters, watching a movie.

When Zayn came back, Liam shrank into the closet even farther, and he seemed confused when he saw the letter. But he opened it anyways, and he read it. Word for word.

Dear Zayn,

I know that you hate me.

It's probably better that you do.

I was wrong to hurt you - to hit your head on that shelf, and whatever ways I did it, as well.

I shouldn't have kissed you.

I was confused, and you didn't deserve to be on the other side of that.

But I'm not confused now.

And I know that you don't care.

I love you, Zayn Malik.

But I won't wait for you.

Have a nice life with Luke, and know that I'm happy for you, whatever you do.

Sincerely, Liam.

Zayn threw the letter in the trash, and went off to his wedding. Liam knew that he shouldn't have stayed to watch, because now his heart was broken - because Zayn didn't even care enough to keep the letter.

Liam walked out of the closet, out of the room, down the hallway, into the elevator, out the lobby, and down the street to the library, where Louis was waiting for him. Louis was sitting in an armchair, looking at an atlas. "Planning your getaway?" Liam teased him, wiping away a single tear of his own.

"I'm planning all the places that I want to take my daughter to see." He smiled and said. "I want her to see the world."

Liam smiled back. "That sounds wonderful, Lou."

Louis looked up at the blank look in his eyes, and he simply stood up, and gave his friend a hug.


	21. Chapter 21

~How many nights have you wished someone would stay?~

 

 

Harry was sitting next to Lottie at the service, who didn't care that her brother wasn't there. Anne was also there, trying to calm Harry down. The whole event seemed to be getting to his head, however, and he waited until there was no time left for his boyfriend and Liam to walk through that door.

They didn't.

Harry clapped with no sound when Niall came through the doors, holding onto Palmer, the other best man's, arm. Harry finally noticed for the first time now that Palmer had a prosthetic leg in the place of his right one. But he walked with ease, so it was clear that he had had this ailment for many years.

Luke had taken the position as the groom, coming out before Zayn. But when Zayn came out, every guy in the room was suddenly gay for him. Harry wished he looked that good at his own wedding, preferably to Louis. Zayn looked effortless, and beaming with happiness. Luke was also beaming, and looked exceptional as well - really proving his nickname true; Hot Luke.

Zayn slowly walked down the aisle, his father on his arm. Luke's dad wasn't at the service, but Harry knew better than to press into the issue. Zayn had his moment. He walked down the aisle to his man, and appeared starstruck looking up at him.

And just as the ceremony began, in came the police.

\---

One official looking man came through the door with three pieces of paper in his hands. "I'm sorry for interrupting this service." He started with. "But I need Perrie Edwards, Palmer Scott, and...Luke Davies to come with me."

"What is this about?" Zayn asked, throwing a hand over Luke's chest to stop him from moving.

"Tell Louis I'll fry him!" Luke screamed at Harry. Niall pulled Zayn back, but Zayn shook Niall off.

"Did Louis do this? Did Louis turn them in?" Zayn asked, stalking towards Harry, who panicked and got out of the way of the police officers escorting Perrie, Palmer, and Luke out. Lottie went in front of Harry, as if to protect him.

"These are warrants for their arrest. They are involved in some heavy money laundering, and there was a powerful individual in New York who came forward with information on their company. They'll be kept at the county jail until their lawyers arrive." The official said, stopping Zayn in his tracks.

Zayn was obviously freaking out. He had no idea what was going on, and whipped his head everywhere. "This wasn't Louis." Harry repeated to Lottie, who shushed him. Anne held onto Lottie's leg to keep herself in the situation.

"That powerful individual was Simon Cowell, wasn't it?" Zayn screamed. Zayn's mom and dad came and restrained him, and Niall ran up to Harry, looking shooken up.

"I have to go." He said, running a hand through his hair. "All of these police are making me antsy. Like really antsy."

"Yeah." Harry said, standing. "I better leave and go find Louis and Liam and tell them what happened. See you at home?"

"Yeah." Niall shouted, heading towards the back door.

Before he could make it there, another, larger swarm of police came in through both doors. Niall screamed as cops seized him, and dragged him to the ground. Harry began to move, as did most of the wedding guests. This was far too much to be happening at one wedding. "Harry, call my mum! Harry!" Niall was screaming and crying and thrashing uselessly, but it was clear that the jig was up.

No one can outrun the police forever.

No one can escape prison and live to tell the tale.

And no one can escape prison twice.

"Who's Harry?" Someone official asked. "Did anyone in this room know that this man was a wanted criminal? He broke out of prison!" Zayn, Lottie, and Anne were all silent on not knowing Harry, and he was grateful for that. "Anyone who assisted this man in evading the police is looking at jail time." Anne twitched in her seat, and Lottie urged Harry to sit down, which he did.

The room was dead silent.

Harry's lips quivered. He didn't know how they had found Niall. He didn't know why Luke was arrested.

Once the police left with Niall, and the room was finally empty again, Harry sat there in shock. Zayn ran out of the room to the nearest car to get to county, and Anne patted her son's leg. "What do we need to do?" She said calmly.

"I need Louis." Harry said, replaying Niall's struggle in his head. "And we need to call Niall's mum, but I don't know her number."

"She'll find out." Lottie said. "He's high profile. Now, let's call Louis."

A burst of anger filled Harry at the whole situation. Yes, let's do call Louis, Harry thought. Won't this be a pleasant surprise for the little wedding skipper.


	22. Chapter 22

~Lay awake only hoping they're okay~

 

 

"Our story is that we were friends of Niall's, but we never knew about his past, and have never heard of him. It's common enough. He was trying to settle down into a new life, and he met us. It's kind of what did happen, except we found out along the way." Louis smiled into the rearview mirror. No one in the backseat replied. Liam was booking himself a ticket on the next flight out of town, Lottie was comforting Harry, and Anne was just their chauffeur.

"You knew?" Anne finally asked.

"Yes, mum. We knew. But if you knew the whole story, you'd believe his sincerity. A guy with a big heart like Niall doesn't deserve to spend his whole life in prison before he's even twenty-one."

Anne nodded at Harry's explanation. "For now, I won't ask questions, but expect some serious grilling when we get home later. Now hop out. I'll go park." Just pulling up at the jail, they all hopped out, at exactly the same time Zayn did. He huffed and ran inside, and the group of them crowded around the desk at the same time. Well, Harry and Liam hung back a bit, and Louis and Zayn pushed each other to assume the first spot at the window.

"I need to see Luke Davies!" Zayn finally shouted.

"Niall Horan!" Louis shouted over him.

"I can get you in to see Luke." She said, pointing to Zayn. "But no visitors to Niall. Sorry."

Louis' jaw tensed. He didn't need to ask why.

"He's calling!" Harry yelled suddenly, pulling out his phone. "Or, at least, I hope." He answered it and put it on speakerphone. "Niall."

"It's over for me." Niall said, tears still evident in his voice. "That little scum Evelyn turned me in since I wouldn't help her. Her brother did it. He killed those people, and I never should've believed him. No one should've put a young kid like me in charge of a prisoner like that."

"Niall." Harry said, trying to be calming. "It's okay."

"It's not, Harry! It's not!" Niall took to sobbing, and Louis came closer to the phone with Liam. Zayn stood by the window still, waiting to be let in.

"We love you, Niall." Louis said, to calm him.

"Just know that. Even if you get out of prison when you're ninety, we'll be there." Liam said strongly. "No matter what. Because no one breaks up the band."

"Tell Zayn that I'm sorry for whatever part I played in what went down today." He said, trying to fit a million things to say into one phone call.

"I forgive you." Zayn said suddenly, into the phone. "I have to go now, Niall, but I forgive you. None of the others, but I forgive you." After that, he disappeared into the hallway to visit Luke.

"Louis, I know your daughter is going to be so beautiful and amazing, and I hope she likes iced coffee. Have fun paying for that expensive habit. And I know that if you and Harry do get married, it'll be amazing, and you'll adopt loads of kids and make the world a better place. And Liam, you're going to find someone amazing and live the rest of your life with them, and you'll be a police officer, or whatever you want, and you'll be amazing. Tell Simon that he's the best boss I've ever had. I have to go now, guys." He gave a final sob. "See you in the next life."

\---

The group of them cried in that lobby while they waited for Anne to circle back around to pick them up. Shortly after Niall hung up, Zayn was kicked out of the cells and sent back into the lobby.

Louis wanted to say so much to him, but Zayn held a hand up. "I don't want to hear any of it. This is your guy's faults. You ruined my happiness and I never want to see any of you again. I hope you all know what it's like to have this happen to you. And I hope it does."

Zayn walked out of the front doors then, and out of their lives.


	23. Chapter 23

~I never counted all of mine,

If I tried, I know it would feel like infinity,

Infinity, infinity, yeah~

 

 

Anne took over helping the guests collect their things, after she drove them back to the wedding location. Not even Zayn's family knew where he was, but the group figured that they would help clean up the mess.

"So much has happened today. I can't even process it." Liam said. "One thing that I always thought I would have was Niall." He grabbed some of the food that the caterers had still brought, now that it was too late to cancel the order. It was, as expected, a chocolate chip cookie. "I just want to go back home."

Harry nodded silently, looking over at Louis, who was talking to Harry's mum. He thought about what Liam had said - just like he'd thought Niall would be there forever, Harry thought that Louis would always be his constant. But there was too many things that could happen to him.

"I've got a flight in two hours." Liam announced suddenly.

"Your stuff is still at my flat." Louis reminded him. "Can't leave without it."

"Can you just mail it to me? I just need to get out of this country."

Louis nodded solemnly, and then he went about helping to clean up. "Anne, you think you could drive Liam to the airport?" He asked her.

She nodded, and motioned to Liam. "Come on, kid."

Liam hugged Harry tightly, and lifted Louis off of the ground for an even tighter hug. "I love you guys." He said softly. "Don't be strangers!"

Anne walked out of the building with Liam then, and he was gone from their lives too.

\---

Harry and Louis waited on the front steps for Anne to come back. Louis was very silent, and Harry was humming. "My brain is very messed up." Louis finally said.

"Why?" Harry questioned, running a hand through Louis' hair.

"I want to settle down in a small cottage, but I also want to travel the world."

"How about we travel the world, and then settle down?" Harry asked him, pulling his jacket closer around himself, since it was cold.

Louis lit a cigarette to keep himself warm. "I want to take the baby around the world."

"Let's do it, then. What's stopping us?"

"I don't want to uproot you." Louis said, turning away from Harry. "You're opening your bakery soon, and you'll need to be working there, running the business for a few months."

"Why does this sound like a breakup conversation?" Harry said, on guard. He pushed himself a little ways away from Louis so that he could see him better.

"It's not. No no no no no." Louis backtracked. "But, I can't travel the world with you, Harry. I'm not doing that to your career. Your life."

"We can work it out." Harry said bluntly. "It'll be fine. Besides, we have another month before she's born, and maybe another month before she'll be able to travel, right? That's a lot of time to work things out."

"I know." Louis said, resting his head on Harry's shoulder, forcing him to scoot back. "I don't want to break up, thought. I love you, Hazza."

Harry nodded, thinking about Niall. He didn't deserve to be locked up in a jail cell, even for his wrong actions. It wasn't right, but there was nothing that he could do about it. "What do we do now? I have no idea, Louis."

Louis hugged him tighter. "We'll figure it out, okay? Eleanor's baby shower is this weekend? Hmm? That's something to look forward to, yeah?" Harry nodded, and the feeling of panic began to subside.

Louis was always good at that kind of thing.

\---

On the plane, Liam didn't meet a handsome stranger like Zayn did. Instead, he tuned out the world. In the note he implied that he wouldn't continue to pine for Zayn, but that's what he knew that he was going to do, despite that. But Zayn didn't have to know. And he was never going to know, because the two of them would most likely never meet again.

A tragedy, yes, with no bittersweet ending. Liam was, yes, going back to school in the fall, but there was a lot of time between then and now.

Summer was open - with a ton of possibilities. Liam just didn't know what they were - life was confusing and he wasn't sure what his purpose was yet.

He didn't know if he was ready to find out yet, either.

Liam did really just want to become Marie Antoinette and eat cake all day to deal with his heartbreak. He laughed to himself - maybe he would do exactly that.

Maybe this ending would be sweet after all.


	24. Chapter 24

~Infinity~

 

 

June 14th

 

Niall stared up at the ceiling of his cell. His circumstances had required that he got his own cell, his own guard, and as little contact with others as possible.

When he broke Connor out of jail, he injured a guard, which gave him a larger sentence, and then he broke himself out, and Niall knew that he was going to be in that cell for the rest of his life. If he didn't try anything, maybe he could eventually move into Gen Pop and make some friends. Parole was unlikely.

Niall sat there, dreaming of his iced coffee. He figured that after a while, he would ask for some paper and a pencil, and he would take up writing. Anything to keep his thoughts going - something that reading would never accomplish.

He longed for the taste of an iced coffee, the smell of fresh air, and the taste of real food.

It also didn't help that Luke and Palmer were locked up at Monster Mansion with him - the trial was brief, since there was so much evidence.

Perrie had played dumb and got into a medium-security prison, and Niall was jealous. Niall was jealous of everyone at this point.

He also couldn't wait for the day that he could have visitors - he couldn't wait to see Louis' daughter, and to hear about all of the normal things that were happening in their lives. He knew they would come to see him someday.

They were his friends.

\---

June 1st

 

"This shipment leaves in an hour, boys, so pick it up!" Liam shouted from the desk in corner. He was working on his laptop on some projects. He felt good, looked good, was good.

Shortly after he got better and healed from his heartbreak, he went back to his old pals in Upstate New York, who welcomed him with open arms. Due to his repertoire with them, they offered him a management job with a team he was familiar with, and they were in charge of shipping of all kinds, but mostly weapons.

He was happy now - or maybe he had convinced himself to believe that.

His personal life was blooming, and he was making some extra cash from the youtube channel that he started up. Simply titled "Liam". The channel was booming, with a current one thousand subscribers and climbing. He was well on his way, and loving every second of it.

He'd made some new friends, joined a gym, and had video chats with Louis and Harry regularly - his daughter was now almost two months old, and Louis was taking her to France next week. She was so beautiful, and the three of them were coming to stay with him for a week at the end of the month.

Everything was perfect - except he still thought of Zayn, and Niall was gone. No one had any idea where Zayn was or what he was up to, and there was no way to contact Niall. His capture was on the news for a couple of weeks, and after it was over, it was easy to erase him from his mind as if he was never there.

And as for Zayn?

He was the one thing that he could never erase from his memory.

\---

May 10th

 

"Mama." Zayn yelled down the hall from the guest room.

"Go to bed." One of his sisters yelled back from her room.

Zayn realized that it was the early morning hours - he had become nocturnal in the last couple of months. Not because he was hacking or on his computer - but because he wasn't. He was reading. All he did was read - he started going to night school to get a teaching degree, and he was accelling through the courses rapidly since he never slept.

It was something - anything, to keep his mind busy.

He was heartbroken, in the worst way, and he hadn't come to terms with anything like he should've. He didn't think about Luke at all, or Louis, or Harry, or money laundering, or Niall. He couldn't do anything to help Niall anyway. His tribute to him was simply that he quit drinking vanilla lattes and picked up iced coffees with milk instead.

Zayn also worked the night shift at a crappy corner store - bringing in extra money for his family. Today happened to be his day off. His money from the job with Simon was reduced to three thousand dollars in an emergency account that he could only access after he turned twenty-five. So, he stayed with his parents, worked a crappy job, lived a crappy life, and tried to suppress his emotions.

It was working, and he planned on continuing that until something better came along.

\---

April 28th

 

"Harry. No more baby clothes shopping." Louis complained. "She got so much at the baby shower, and we've already bought so much that we're broke."

"I saw a hat that we have to get." Harry said. "Please, please, please come with me, Louis. Then we can take Eleanor some dinner? It'll be fun."

Louis smiled at him. "Fine. But no more until she's older."

"No more what? Hats or clothes?"

"Get in the car, Hazza!"

Harry's bakery was scheduled to open, in Holmes Chapel, on July 7th, a week after they got back from visiting Liam, the expert Youtuber. His comedy really shone out now, in a way that it hadn't before. They called him a lot, and gave him lots of feedback on all of his content.

In Louis' personal life, he had done another photo shoot for Adidas, and had gotten verified on Instagram. He was currently writing a script for a movie that Liam was helping him with a bit, but it was very underdeveloped. His biggest project was getting ready for his daughter's birth, and getting ready to travel the world with her - something that Eleanor was completely chill with.

The two of them had worked out a fifty-fifty custody agreement, and Louis had even bought her a small house, and had it furnished and decorated just for the soon-to-be-mommy and her soon-to-be-daughter.

On the way to the store, as was the topic of conversation often, they talked about baby names. But Eleanor and Louis couldn't find something that would fit her - so they decided to wait until she was born to name her.

"This is the hat, Louis!" Harry said, showing it to Louis. Louis pursed his lips, swirling his grasshopper mocha around in its cup. The action reminded Harry of Niall, and he had a brief but painful flashback - he held himself at fault for Niall being captured, even though he knew that he shouldn't. But he felt like, if they had taken more caution in their investigative tactics, Niall would've been there with them, shopping for hats.

"Fine, get it." Louis whipped out his phone as Harry led him to checkout. "What's up, Elk?" He said to Eleanor. "Wait, what?"

Around ten hours later, the beautiful baby girl was born. Harry cried. Eleanor cried. Okay, maybe even Louis cried. And, when Louis held her for the first time, she opened her eyes to look at him.

Her bright blue eyes stared up at him, and they were the clearest things he had ever seen. They held the universe, and everything in it. An infinite amount of universes and possibilities.

This was why, when Eleanor asked what they should name her, he replied, "Infinity."

They would call her Fin for short, which also meant "The End."


End file.
